Sorted by date Results 276 - 285 of 285
Petersburg is filled with fishermen, who spend much of the year fishing and don’t have the time or opportunity to voice concerns regarding the heavily-regulated industry. This is where organizations such as the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association (PVOA) come in. PVOA acts as the voice for these fishermen, and women, who represent a very diverse, multi-gear, multi-species industry. After six years, PVOA executive director Julianne Curry is leaving her position. Curry’s main responsibility at...
The amount of mature sockeye salmon present in the waters of Southeast Alaska and other areas of the Pacific Northwest has been on a downward spiral recently according to a study published last week in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. The study states that the, “widespread decrease in productivity has important implications for management of salmon stocks and requires research into its potential causes to help determine future management strategies.” Dr. Randall Peterman, a professor in fishery science and management at...
Thanks to a nearly $3 million show of support from the state, high tech buoys will soon be measuring ocean acidity levels year ‘round, and Alaska fishermen will play an important role in the research. Basic chemistry proves that ocean waters are becoming more corrosive and it is happening faster in colder waters. The acidity, caused by increasing carbon dioxide emissions, can prevent shells from forming on crabs or oysters and tiny shrimplike organisms essential to fish diets. Alaska’s monitoring project will allow scientists to develop a “se...
It has taken a quarter of a century, but fishery managers are finally poised to take action to reduce the five million pounds of halibut allowed to be taken as bycatch in Gulf of Alaska (GOA) fisheries. Industry watchers are hoping that public comments will sway them to make the largest cuts under consideration. Currently, 2,300 metric tons of halibut bycatch is allowed in the GOA groundfish fisheries. That is further broken down to 2,000mt for the trawl sector and 300mt for hook and line fisheries, primarily the cod fleet. Those are the two fi...
A resurgence of farmed fish and shifting world currencies could shake up salmon markets this year. “There are two trends going into the current salmon season that we haven’t seen for several years,” said Gunnar Knapp, a fisheries economist at the University of Alaska at Anchorage. “Exchange rates look to be weaker, not stronger, and perhaps more importantly, farmed salmon prices, rather than rising or holding steady, have fallen significantly. So we will be selling into a market where there is a lot more competing product available at a lot c...
Petersburg High School Senior Julia Buschmann cracked a few eggs before nabbing several awards at the Southeast Alaska Regional Science Fair in Juneau, held March 9 and 10. A student in Joni Johnson's AP biology class, Buschmann, 17, was inspired to enter her project at the science fair as a first-time competitor. “I was always interested in organic food versus modified food,” Buschmann said. So, which came first the idea or the egg? “When [Johnson] introduced the project to me at the begin...
State fishery managers project a lower Alaska salmon harvest this year, due to an expected decrease in those hard to predict pinks. The total catch forecast by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game is 132 million salmon, down 25% from the 177 million fish taken in 2011. The statewide breakdown is 120,000 Chinook salmon (in areas outside Southeast, where catches are dictated by treaty with Canada); 38.4 million sockeye salmon, a decline of 4%; 4.3 million coho (similar to last year); 19 million chums, 12% higher; and 70.2 million pinks, a 40%...
Sea otter population in Southeast Alaska is increasing, and consequently, the animals are depleting marine life, causing an adverse economic impact to local fisheries, according to a presentation given by fisheries experts at the Sons of Norway in Petersburg Sunday night. The presentation was a part of the weeklong Alaska Board of Fisheries meetings being held in Petersburg. The Board’s main role is to “conserve and develop the fishery resources of the state,” according to its website. Howev...
The PHS Tsunami Bowl team heads to Juneau this weekend to scrimmage against the powerhouse Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain teams. They’ll compete in head-to-head matches against the two teams, as well as meet with NOAA Fisheries staff and tour the DIPAC hatchery. “Our team learned a lot from our scrimmage against Juneau last year. For most of our kids, it will be their first glimpse of the kind of competition they’ll be facing in Seward,” said coach Joni Johnson. The actual statewi...
Michael Joseph Wittstock, 68, ascended from this life on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Michael Joseph Wittstock was born in Juneau, Alaska, April 29, 1943 to Kenneth Joseph Wittstock and Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Miller. In the late summer of that year, the family moved to Spokane, Wash. where they lived with Betty Jane’s parents across the street from Gonzaga University. In 1948, when the family had grown to five children, they moved into their own home on East 9th near Sacred H...
